Page 33 of The Duke of Seduction
“Also true.” Violet grinned. “But let us walk and discuss Lavinia and this Duke of Seduction business.” Her eyes sparkled with mirth as she looked toward Lavinia. “Are you about to become betrothed?”
As they started along the path, Lavinia gave her head a light shake. “Heavens, no.”
“You aren’t being courted?” Diana asked.
“I have far more masculine attention than I used to, most of it not worth mentioning.”
“Most of it?” Violet asked. “Does that mean there issomethingworth mentioning?”
Sarah blinked at Lavinia. “Is there? I didn’t think anyone had caught your eye.”
Why had she said most? Because the Season wasn’t completely unremarkable. Because of Lord Northam. And yet what could she say about him to them?
Nothing without revealing the way they’d met and the way their friendship had developed and the direction their association was now headed as they worked to help each other. She felt a flash of remorse for keeping it all from Sarah, her dearest friend, but she’d promised Northam she wouldn’t tell anyone he was the Duke of Seduction. And she wasn’t sure how to relate the story now without disclosing that piece. What atangle.
“You’re right, Sarah. There isn’t anything worth mentioning. It’s been a parade of suitors, and I’m weary of it already.” She glanced back toward her mother, who was now talking with a few other ladies. Their gazes strayed toward Lavinia and her group, and Lavinia turned her head around. “My mother wishes I were more enthusiastic. She is confident I’ll be wed by Season’s end.”
Violet’s brow furrowed. “Don’t you want that? I seem to recall you wanting to marry.”
“Therightgentleman. When—and if—he presents himself. It’s not too much to ask, is it?”
“No,” Violet agreed. “Take it from me. I was wed to a man I didn’t choose and didn’t love. Now that I am married to a man I do love—madly—I can say with utmost certainty that you should wait for the right man.” She smiled, adding, “If you can.”
“That’s the real issue,” Sarah said. “I’m not sure your mother will let you put it off any longer. My mother prays every day that the Duke of Seduction writes about me next.”
Diana tipped her head to the side and regarded Sarah with curiosity. “Would you want him to?”
Sarah shrugged, surprising Lavinia. “Maybe.” She flicked an apologetic look toward Lavinia. “I know you haven’t liked the attention, but I think I might.” Her shoulders lifted again. “Or not. I suppose I’d just appreciate the opportunity.”
“Careful what you wish for,” Lavinia said, her mind whirring. She could very easily ensure the Duke of Seduction wrote about Sarah. But Lavinia knew her friend. She might like the attention, but falling in love was even more important to Sarah than it was to Lavinia. The insincerity and triviality would wear on her just as it did Lavinia.
Sarah exhaled, her mouth sliding into a brief, slight frown. “I’m sure you’re right.”
Lavinia hoped her friend wasn’t sad or, worse, jealous of Lavinia’s current notoriety. “Would you really want the Duke of Seduction to write about you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I just want to be as popular as you.” She flashed a smile at Lavinia.
She was jealous. Lavinia’s chest ached, and she wove her arm through Sarah’s. “I’m notreallypopular, but you know that. This will pass, and then we can go back to the way things were.”
Sarah looked at Diana and Violet before sliding her gaze back to Lavinia. “Do we really want to? Marriage seems to agree with them.”
“They’re aberrations.” Lavinia laughed. “I’m joking. But they’re in love. If we find—whenwe find that,” she amended, “we’ll look as disgusting as they do now.”
“And you’re right, Lavinia,” Sarah said, inclining her head toward a group of women gathered on an adjacent path. “Popularity isn’t all that grand, especially when it’s for the wrong reasons.” The women were openly staring at the four of them, and Lavinia was about to apologize for being a nuisance when the words stuck in her throat. She squinted at the group and, even with her myopia, realized there was something different about their demeanor.
Violet let out a breath. “Well, that was to be expected. We knew our arrival would arouse a flurry of gossip and judgment.”
“Yes.” Diana looked at Lavinia and Sarah apologetically. “We’re sorry if this causes you trouble.”
Both Lavinia and Sarah scoffed. “We don’t care,” Lavinia said. “You’re our friends.”
“It’s nonsense anyway,” Sarah said with a surprising burst of vehemence. “You’re both happy. No one was ruined or hurt by what happened. If Diana had married Kilve, there’d be four unhappy people instead of four people who deserve the very best and will have it. If that’s not acceptable to Society, well, I don’t want to be a part of it.”
They turned and walked back toward the gate. “I’m going to host a dinner party soon,” Violet said. “I want to show people Nick isn’t really the Duke of Ice.”
“Isn’t he?” Lavinia gave her a teasing smile.
Violet winked in return. “Not anymore. You’ll find him quite changed, I think. Diana and I have transformed our dukes—fie on anyone who says it can’t be done.”
